Improving emergency communications with aerial ad-hoc networks
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2023-01-27
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en
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Abstract
In the hours following catastrophic regional disaster, the need for robust communication
systems is very often accompanied by the loss of traditional ones. Power outage
and structural damage can bring main-grid networks offline for multiple days, placing not
just residents of a disaster-stricken area but also first-responders in the dark. There is
a growing realization in government and academia that modern systems could alleviate
these concerns. This is especially true of those systems which are, as far as possible,
independent of systems external to themselves. Aerial ad hoc networks (AANETs) are
one such class of systems to have shown to be promising short-term network replacements
in case of main-grid communication failure. AANET’s utilize aerial relay nodes (aircraft
with network routing hardware on-board) that dynamically position themselves throughout
an area to provide a wireless network to end users on the ground. The virtual spring
mesh algorithm is one protocol by which this positioning happens, using repulsive and
attractive “virtual spring” forces between aerial nodes and end users to blanket aerial
nodes over an area. Recent work has shown that virtual spring algorithms may be able to
function independently of GPS; if true, these systems would be untethered from a major
dependency, increasing their resiliency. However, the ability of those AANETs to explore
an area and connect far-flung disconnected end users must be improved. In this paper, I
compare two simulated, GPS-agnostic blimp-based AANETs implementing virtual spring
protocols, with and without explicit exploratory aerial nodes. I show that the the experimental
exploratory system performs nearly at-par with the base model; this is followed
by a discussion of why this may be the case, accompanied by suggestions for improvement
and future work.
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen